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Yamato Class
A brand new Battleship design intended to show the technological (and it's claimed, the military) prowess of the Federation, the Yamato Class is larger than even the mighty Missouri Class, although some compromises were made in her Secondary Weapons array, giving the older ship the edge in terms of Photon Torpedo armament. She is also the first ship since the Siegfried Class to carry a super-heavy Phaser weapon. Development The development of Battleships for Starfleet dates back to the turn of the 23rd Century. Starfleet had never fielded Battleships: the last design of that designation had served with the UESN during the Earth-Romulan War. The first (partially) successful attempt at building a Battleship for Starfleet came in 2235 in the guise of the Siegfried Class. By this point, Photon Torpedo technology had progressed to the point where it was considered a reliable weapon, and Starfleet designs no longer carried back-up Missiles. Warp core and nacelle technology had also progressed to the point that a ship of her size and design planform could reach reasonable speeds. The Siegfried Class was designed around a single main gun, the 'Kaminari' Type I Phaser Cannon. In testing, this weapon failed spectacularly, and after killing several high ranking Federation representatives, was eventually redesigned and rebuilt into the operational 'Kaminari' Type II Phaser Cannon. This weapon proved overweight and underpowered, and 8 of the 12 Siegfried Class ships left in service were modified in 2242 and had their 'Kaminari' Type II Phaser Cannons removed, being reclassified as Battlecruisers (the first of the type in Starfleet). They were finally retired in 2245 when sufficient number of Constitution Class ships had entered service. The next attempt was the Federation Class. From the outset the design was marred with political compromises, and an additional problem was the requirement that the design also be capable of scientific, exploratory and even diplomatic missions, which burdened down the already large ship with science labs, survey equipment, function rooms and even an arboretum. Of course, none of this was any use in a combat situation. Despite the use of many Standard A series components, the design and production of the Federation Class still took many years, and the USS Federation (NCC-2100) did not leave dry dock on her shakedown cruise until 2264. Despite the programmes initiated in the light of the failure of the Federation Class, nothing serviceable had come to fruition by the time the Organian Conflict broke out in 2285. The supposed replacement for the Federation Class, the Langley Class Battleship, had proven to be a technological dead end, taking so long to enter service that she was approaching obsolescence before the prototype was off the slipway. Indeed, the situation was so dire that despite all her failings, at least one Federation Class, the USS Confederation (NCC-2114), was used during the V'Ger Incident in 2271, albeit kept out of harms way. The outbreak of the Organian Conflict in 2285 did much to highlight the urgency of the need for a Capital Ship in Starfleet. There was simply no way that the Federation Class could be sent into battle against the latest Klingon designs, and the Langley Class Battleships were too few and too slow to be of any use. The first year of the war was a desperate battle of attrition, taking a terrible toll on Starfleet personnel, especially in Destroyer Flotillas. By the opening months of 2286, in a remarkably short time, the Ulysses Class had entered service. She was a well-rounded Capital Ship, not exceptional but the right ship at the right time. She could also best the majority of Klingon warships encountered, and could be constructed relatively easily. Scant months later though, the game changed again.The Romulan Star Empire entered the Organian Conflict in a stunning offensive known as the "Day of the Eagle". The core strength around which the offensive was built was a gigantic new warship, the War Eagle Class. Although few in number, she was larger and more heavily armed than anything Starfleet could field against her. Starfleet fell back, and for several weeks it looked as if the Federation might fall. Starfleet was spooked. Starfleet Intelligence had had no information on the existence of the War Eagle Class, and a vessel of such size and power had only ever been a conceptual study in the Federation. The only ship Starfleet possessed even approaching the size of the War Eagle Class was the experimental Langley Class, and this was a technological league behind the Romulan design. Any battle between the two would be a Pyrrhic victory at best. Another approach was needed. Designers at the Antares Yards had been working on a super-heavy Battleship concept for some time, purely as an exercise into discovering what could be done. They had come from a slightly odd starting point, namely that of hull and shield strength rather than spaceworthiness. The unusual design of the Missouri Class, as she eventually came to be known, was based around creating a shape that was strongest and most able to resist combat damage. Construction began in the closing months of 2286, and by the middle of 2287, production of two more hulls had been started. The lead ship, the USS Missouri (NCC-2463), entering service in 2288. The Missouri Class and the smaller Ulysses Class tipped the balance back into Starfleet's favour, but with intelligence efforts stepped up, the existence of new Klingon and Romulan design programmes alarmed Starfleet planners, particularly Admiral Lance Cartwright. A new and even more formidable Battleship would soon be needed, and this perceived requirement became even more pressing with the beginning of the War of Pacification in 2289. Eventually however, ISC forces were proven to not be as formidable as first thought. Surprise, superior tactics and the war-weariness of the galaxy were what brought them initial success. Once forces had been rallied, new tactics devised and particularly with the temporary mutual cooperation treaty between the forces of the Alliance and the Coalition, the ISC proved just as fallible as any other adversary. It was the very mutual cooperation treaty that helped to win the War of Pacification which caused further concerns in Starfleet. Whilst never permitted to fully scan (and most certainly not to board) each other's vessels, the treaty did bring the latest Starfleet, Klingon Defence Force and Romulan Star Navy ship designs into (peaceful) contact. Whilst she had been in service for several years, it was the first up-close encounter Starfleet had had with the Klingon B11 qeyLIS bet'Leth (Sword of Kahless) Class Battleship. Although under the flag of truce, Starfleet (and of course, the KDF and RSN) examined any foreign vessel encountered with great interest and gathered as much information as could be obtained without offending the power involved. This changed the design for the new super-Battleship in several ways. Given the Assault Phaser mounted on the Sword of Kahless Class (obviously derived from stolen plans of the earlier 'Kaminari' Type II Phaser Cannon), Starfleet once again desired a Battleship with a powerful main gun. The most logical planform to start from was that of the Langley Class, which had originally been intended to carry such a weapon, and although she suffered from early teething troubles, the design itself had proven to be a sound one.This changed the design from a tri-nacelled ship (originally resembling, ironically, the Star Empire Class design) to that of a quad-nacelled, dual-hulled ship. Speed, manoeuvrability and cost were trivial concerns by this stage, and a gargantuan design began to unfold. In a move some have claimed to be "overly compensating", the resulting design had no less than two Type III Assault Phasers, derived from the types used onboard Federation Starbases. These were themselves a gradual refinement and development of the earlier 'Kaminari' Type II Phaser Cannon. Compared to the Missouri Class, her Secondary Weapons array was reduced, only two dual Mark VII Photon Torpedo Tubes, but the Assault Phaser was intended to more than offset this reduction. The design featured integral armour plating, although additional plates were fitted to key areas, and the shield system installed was the most powerful ever fitted to a starship. In a nod to past super-Battleships of pre-Collapse Earth, the design was christened the Yamato Class. Production began on the prototype in late 2291, a resulting shortage in shipyard space halting work on the Missouri Class USS South Dakota (NCC-2457). The USS Yamato (NCX-5828) was launched and accepted provisionally (hence the NCX prefix) into Starfleet service in early 2292. Operational History Whilst an otherwise sound and spaceworthy ship, during initial testing of the USS Yamato (NCX-5828), a problem was found with her Advanced Weapons system. The dual warp cores, the same type as employed in the Missouri Class and Ulysses Class (in single form) were simply not powerful enough to handle the strain of firing the Assault Phasers. Initial firing tests resulted in the melting of the Assault Phaser power relays and the explosion of the Advanced Weapons capacitor. Fortunately, after the issues with the Assault Phaser and it's predecessors, the system had been designed to overload the capacitor and relays long before a critical power build up would threaten the ship, as a sort of in-built safety device. The capacitor explosion vented safely outwards from an armoured compartment, again as designed. No lasting damage was caused, although the Yamato did have to return to Utopia Planitia to repair her Advanced Weapons system. No solution could be found to prevent the overload, short of bypassing the safety features and "hoping for the best". This was entirely unacceptable to Starfleet, and threatened the entire Yamato programme. Fortunately, a rather ingenious solution was found. Just prior to discharge, the Primary and Secondary Weapons systems were taken offline, along with several other power-heavy systems. This reduced the strain on the warp cores and reduced the resistance in the Assault Phaser power relays. The weapon could then fire without damaging itself, although it did render the Yamato herself unable to fire any weapons for some time afterwards. This was considered an acceptable trade off for the power of a pair of Assault Phasers (after all, she would never be in combat alone, and most enemy vessels encountered would be crippled or outright destroyed by an Assault Phaser volley.) The Yamato was fitted with an automatic system to perform this task, and the two uncompleted hulls on their slipways were fitted with this system as standard. It was in this form that the Yamato fought during the great expedition to the Galactic Fringe and the subsequent Andromeda Strike. Although her Assault Phasers were frighteningly powerful weapons, they proved to be quite difficult to use effectively, the cumbersome nature of such a massive ship and their limited firing arc allowing most smaller foes to avoid entering their reach. They did however prove extremely useful at destroying enemy installations, particularly the Neo-Tholian stations discovered in the Andromeda Strike. Her two sister ships, the USS Musashi (NCX-5829) and the USS Shinano (NCX-5830) were not completed until after the departure of the Federation Prime Fleet for the Galactic Fringe. They saw no combat, but remained on station to repel any further Klingon or ISC attacks. Apocrypha The scandal surrounding the involvement of the Yamato's main advocate, Admiral Lance Cartwright, in the Praxis Incident of 2293 cast a new and terrible light on the Yamato's conception. Was she really the reply to increasingly powerful Klingon, Romulan and ISC vessels threatening to overwhelm Starfleet and bring and end to the very existence of the Federation? Or was she the ultimate weapon of conquest, designed for a war that Cartwright and his co-conspirators were devising? Construction on a fourth ship was postponed in light of the inquiry that followed the incident and the signing of the Khitomer Accords. The three already in service were placed into "suspended animation", pending the outcome of the inquiry. It was finally determined in 2295 that the circumstances surrounding the conception, design and production of the Yamato Class was immaterial. Their use had been entirely against the forces of the ISC, and with the Romulan Star Empire shamed by their Ambassador's involvement in the Praxis Incident and the newfound peace between the Klingon Empire and the Federation, it was determined that these mighty starships would never be used offensively. The fourth and final ship, the USS Mars (NCX-5831) was completed and launched later that year, although the incomplete hull of a fifth, proposed as the USS Kali (NCX-5832) was scrapped. The four Yamatos in service were gradually deactivated in the years that followed. The USS Yamato (NCX-5828) herself was the first to be so in 2302, given damaged sustained in the Andromeda Strike and general wear and tear on her systems. The USS Musashi (NCX-5829) and USS Shinano (NCX-5830) were overhauled in 2311 after the Tomed Incident, and the youngest ship of her class, the USS Mars (NCX-5831) was reacquired by the Starfleet Research & Development Division for use as a weapons testbed. Never accepted as standard (NCC) starships, it was in this role that the Yamato Class saw most use, ironic given that her design was based upon the Langley Class Battleship. The Mars was used to test a variety of new systems that became commonplace by the mid 24th Century, including the Mark XI Photon Torpedo and Type C Phaser Emitter Array, both used on the later Ambassador Class. With tensions in the galaxy dropping, their increasing age and new shield and weapon systems rendering their Assault Phasers obsolescent, the USS Musashi (NCX-5829) and USS Shinano (NCX-5830) were retired in 2324 after the debut of the Ambassador Class. The USS Mars (NCX-5831) was finally deactivated in 2326 and used as a weapons test target for many years after. Specifications * Class: 'Battleship, Experimental * 'Hull Type Designation: '''FBBX * '''Length: 854m * Crew: 1290 * Warp Nacelles: '''4 * '''Maximum Sublight Speed: 3075 k/s (30.75 Mk/s) * Cruise Warp Factor Speed: wf 7.2 * Safe Maximum Warp Factor Speed: wf 9.2 * Hull Rating: '944 HSF * 'Shield Rating: 1983 FSP * Sensor Rating: 800 SRU * Armament and Equipment: ** Primary *** 6 × Type B Phaser Emitter ** Secondary *** 4 × Mark VII Photon Torpedo Tube ** Heavy *** None ** Advanced *** 2 × Type III Assault Phaser ** Equipment *** Tractor Beam Emitter *** Mark VI Probes *** 3 × Wasp Attack Shuttle Ships in Service (2292) USS Yamato (NCX-5828) USS Musashi (NCX-5829) USS Shinano (NCX-5830) Category:Federation Vessels Category:Battleships